The invention relates to supplying information that has a relationship with content information being received by an end-user""s consumer electronics (CE) apparatus.
The term xe2x80x9cInteractive TVxe2x80x9d (ITV) refers to enhancing TV programs with interactive services for the end-user. These services include, e.g., retrieving electronic information from, or sending electronic information to, specific Web sites via a dedicated set-top box (STB) within a context of the live-broadcast program. Examples of ITV are games for a TV audience, or interacting with an advertisement being broadcast. For example, Wink Communications provides an end-to-end system for low-cost electronic commerce on television. Their enhanced broadcasting system allows advertisers and others to create interactive enhancements to traditional TV programs. Viewers can purchase products or order brochures with a click of their remote control communicating with a STB or TV set that has the Wink client software built-in, during an enhanced program. OpenTV, Inc., provides software for STBs that enables digital interactive television for enhanced applications such as e-commerce.
ITV typically requires a dedicated infrastructure according to the specifications of the service provider, equipment manufacturer and network operator or cable provider. The inventor has realized that it is an advantage if the end-user or consumer receives the additional information related to a TV program, or a radio program, etc., without modifications being necessary to the conventional infrastructure used for supply of those programs to the end-user, including to the end-user device for receiving these programs, i.e. radios, TV sets and STBs. The inventor has also realized that the device receiving that additional information is preferably an item that is native to the home entertainment environment.
For these and other reasons, the inventor proposes to equip a remote control device (RC) with a communication apparatus such as a wireless telephone or pager, to receive the additional information from a server via a telephone network. The telephone or pager is preferably a built-in component. The RC has a display monitor that serves as a GUI. The monitor preferably has a touch screen functionality such as on the Pronto (TM) RC of Philips Electronics. The broadcast of the program causes the additional information to be sent to the RC. The additional information is displayed as, e.g., text or icons, on the GUI. User-interaction with the text or icons causes output data to be sent back via the telephone network to the server mentioned above or to another server.
Applications may need to be able to cope with the characteristic delays of the networks. Various services can be introduced on cell phones that rely on real-time or semi-real-time delivery of various data. E.g., subscribers can program a stock order system to provide an SMS alert when a stock price passes a certain value. Moreover, for accurate synchronization, watermarks can be embedded in the program. These allow, for example, that all the data required to respond to a certain event in the broadcast is already available on the RC but its rendering is triggered after the associated watermark is detected in the actual broadcast. Another method is to send data in advance and to put a time-stamp on it for its validity. Advantages are manifold. For example, interactive TV is enabled in a manner that is independent of a configuration of an STB, as the invention uses the telephone as communication medium. Further, the RC/telephone combination is independent of the STB""s or TV""s content delivery infrastructure (cable, satellite, etc.). TV shows or broadcast stations can fund a dedicated remote (e.g., distinguishable by the color of the housing, the ccf files controlling the GUI, the shape of the housing, etc.). The RC supports business models wherein TV shows, TV networks and stations and original content providers are revenue sources for the RC platform.
One way of implementing the synchronization between TV program and data delivery to the RC is to do everything in real-time. The current, so-called two-screen Interactive TV (watching TV while browsing the Web on a PC) uses a similar synchronization. Disney does this for xe2x80x9cMillionairexe2x80x9d and MTV 2 does it with most of their programs as well.
Another way is to send messages to the phone or pager at the time that an EPG schedule indicates that a certain program is being broadcast. The phone does not need to have access to this schedule. A separate, central system interprets the EPG and triggers the relevant phones. This system needs to be aware of the differences in time in the different zones and it needs to be aware which RC-phones are present in which zones. A registration procedure may take care of this. Alternatively, cell-phone technology does have the possibility to track the geographical location of the device, e.g., through satellite based (e.g., GPS) or radio triangulation (e.g., MPS). Still another way of synchronizing is having the RC recognize the TV program. This implementation is robust against program shifts, both accidental and intended. Enabling technologies include, e.g., watermarks (embedded in the audio and/or video) and fingerprints (used to recognize the audio and/or video). The RC-phone detects the watermark, or calculates the fingerprint, calls the server, and requests instructions that match the watermark data or the fingerprint. For fingerprints in content information see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,668,603, herein incorporated by reference. Synchronizing with the playback of previously recorded content information is possible by the same mechanisms of watermarking and fingerprinting.
An aspect of the invention resides in a method of enabling a consumer to receive data under control of content information being played out at home equipment of the consumer. The content information has been supplied via a supply infrastructure, e.g., cable, satellite, etc. The method comprises supplying the data via a data network that is independent of the supply infrastructure. The data is supplied to a bi-directional telecom apparatus at the consumer, e.g., prior to the play-out of the content information or functionally simultaneously with the content being played out. The data is rendered upon the apparatus receiving a control signal caused by the content information being played out, either as streamed or received, or as played out from a recording apparatus. In an embodiment, the data is supplied by a server and is personalized according to a user profile based on an identity of the telecom apparatus. For example, the data represent instant buy buttons for products that relate to the semantic context of a TV broadcast. The buttons can be rendered on the display of the touch screen of the remote control device. In an example, the data for the buttons has been downloaded from the server on the remote for selectively being rendered upon detection of an associated watermark in the content being played out. The server downloads data for only specific ones of these buy buttons to this remote control as match the user profile. Alternatively, if all buttons have been downloaded, only specific ones are rendered under control of the watermark, as fit this user""s profile. This selective rendering is achieved by, e.g., marking the data for each button as matching or conflicting.
For completeness, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,414,761 and 5,748,716, both herein incorporated by reference, disclose an RC receiving control codes via a telephone line for being programmed into the remote""s memory in the configuration phase of the remote. The remote does not have an onboard telephone or another telecom apparatus for enabling a user interactive broadcast based on operational use of the remote using typically bi-directional communication with a server within an Interactive TV context.